take the red pill

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

take the red pill (third-person singular simple present takes the red pill, present participle taking the red pill, simple past took the red pill, past participle taken the red pill)

1. (idiomatic) To understand the world in its previously unknown reality.

   Synonyms: face facts, wise up

   • 2004 September 9, Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, Portfolio, →ISBN, →OL, page 92:

     If you want to be a successful bootstrapper, you have to take the red pill and determine how deep the rabbit hole called your organization goes.

   • 2005 June 1, Terry Allen, Dugout, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 172:

     As much as we, our generation, start to believe this fictionalized new version of reality we become complicit.... The only way out is to take the Red pill and see what things really look like.

   • 2005 December 1, The Black Dot, Hip Hop Decoded: From Its Ancient Origin To Its Modern Day Matrix, →ISBN, →OL, page 144:

     In this day and time, we must begin to take the “red pill” and open our first eye to see what's really going on, and who's behind this madness involving Hip Hop videos.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:take the red pill.

Related terms

• red pill (noun or verb)
• red pilled

See also

• drink the Kool-Aid

Further reading

• red pill and blue pill on Wikipedia.Wikipedia